If there is no struggle, there is no progress. -Frederick Douglass

To have child-like curiosity is what everyone needs in the world. Children have such an innocence about them that allows them to venture out and try new things that as an adult they are taught to fear new things. As a traveler of sorts I find that it is best to approach every aspect of what I do as a child. For instance, in the United States I never ate fish or sea food of any kind. Every now and then I'd be the brave girl and try something but for the most part I wasn't presented with many opportunities to try such foods and if I was had such a mind set that I couldn't bring myself to do so.

Since I have been in Spain I have eaten more fish and sea food then I ever have in my entire life. And I like most of it! When I arrived at my casa and met my senora for the first time she asked me if there was anything I wouldn't eat. Since I came into this trip looking at it as an opportunity to venture out and try things that are apart of the culture here in Spain I told her there wasn't. She was very pleased. Since then at least once a day I have some sort of fish. My Spanish right now isn't exactly where I'd like it to be so most of the time I have no idea what I'm eating or at least the specific type of what I'm eating.

She serves a lot of tuna prepared in different ways. This was the one fish I always thought I would hate, but I find myself enjoying everything she cooks. Except espaca, it's a cold tomato soup with cucumbers in it, very famous here but I can't stand it. My senora prepares a lot of what I just call fried shapes, fried shapes are all different shapes and have different types of meat in them and sometimes are just seasoned breading. I like them a lot but they aren't anything special.

I didn't take this picture but this is what it looks like!

One day she made me the famous dish of Sevilla which is a fried rice with shrimp, octopus and oysters in it. I brought myself to try to shrimp and they were pretty good with the rice but the oysters had so little "meat" in them it didn't seem worth the trouble to get it out to eat. But the octopus... oh the octopus... I couldn't do it. Until last night when she made a green pea with salsa mixture that had octopus in it as well, it wasn't bad but was too chewy so I didn't like it so I ate around it. My favorite food so far is probably sopa de creama, just a cream soup but it's amazing!

(Funny Note: after I had typed this first part my senora came and got me for lunch. I twas the rice dish I just described haha! and empanadas, something that was very popular in Chile, with tuna and tomato sauce)

This past week I started my first rounds of real classes, not the intensive period any more. I'm really starting to panic about my language skills and am going to look into getting a Spanish tutor through the my center. Studying alone is not helping me because I do not learn that way.

But speaking of tutoring, I am actually an English tutor! It's great! I have three little kids that I started tutoring this past week. We meet twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, for one hour each, 8PM to 9PM. The first day I had no idea I was going to start lessons yet so I had nothing planned. Their mother is a teacher at a school and knows English, not completely fluently but knows a lot. Not only do I have this great opportunity to work with these kids but I also get paid 10 euros an hour!  The oldest is Alberto, 13, followed by Theresa, 11, and Maria, 7. They all have such different levels of English skills it will be difficult to teach them all at the same time. Last Wednesday I only worked with the girls and we reviewed a lot of different words for the youngest to learn since the older knew them already.

These children remind me of how I should remain in my studies with Spanish. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. When you're afraid you don't do. I must devote more time and find better ways for me to understand the language if I wish to return home any more fluent then when I came.

For the first three weeks on Thursday my program had setup mandatory visits to historical sights in the city of Sevilla. The first week my group went to the Cathedral that I pass by everyday on my way to class. It was beautiful but after a while of being there and not understanding the language with which the history was given in I was ready to leave. We climbed up the tower before we headed out to get a view of the city from the current highest point in Sevilla. I say current because they are building a skyscraper on the other side of the river right now that is a big controversy. Some people think it's great because it brings a new modern aspect to things while others believe it is a sore sight that ruins the landscape of Sevilla.

The second week my group went to Italica. These are Roman ruins just outside of the city. My favorite teacher lead this group so I found it a little more enjoyable. The downside was everything was outside and it was very hot so by the end of this trip I was hiding behind ruins for shade and protection from the sun. It was strange to actually see Roman ruins in Spain even though I know historically speaking the Romans used to occupy the region. I love history so trips like these fascinate me.

During the last week of the intensive period I went to Alcazare. This is a building close to my school as well that doesn't have as much of an appeal until you go inside. I'm not exactly sure what it's original purpose was but over time it was decorated by Muslims and Christians alike. It is so detailed and intricate. Every little thing had so much detail on it that it was gorgeous.

To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. -Aldous Huxley 

Discovering the cultural differences in Spain has been quite an experience. From how they manage their days and their sleep patterns to how the manage their love lives. While I was out with my Spanish friends we talked about the cultural differences between our countries and when people get married. This topic came up simply from the fact that one of our friends had two weddings to go to the following week. Generally in Spain people live with their parents until they are about 28 years old. They will date during this time but will usually move out when they get engaged and live with their fiances. But they won't get married for a long time afterwards, a long time can be 6-12 years! This is so different from American dating, on average. I love finding out these little cultural difference that you wouldn't normally think to ask about. I'm learning more so everyday not to assume that everyone lives life the way you do.